Finding aid for Rancho Las Posas and Simi records, circa 1870-1930. MVC017
Finding prepared by Library Staff. Further updates added by Krystell Jimenez, 2022.
This finding aid was made possible in part through funding from the County of Ventura and the Heritage Fund at the Ventura
County Community Foundation.
Museum of Ventura County
2011, July 2022.
100 East Main Street
Ventura, CA 93001
library@venturamuseum.org
Contributing Institution:
Museum of Ventura County
Title: Rancho Las Posas and Simi records
Identifier/Call Number: MVC017
Physical Description:
2.57 Cubic Feet
(2 boxes)
Date (inclusive): circa 1870-1930
Abstract: Rancho Las Posas and Rancho Simi were both Mexican land grants that were owned by the de la Guerra y Noriega family of Santa
Barbara. They cover large portions of present-day Camarillo, Moorpark, Simi Valley, the Oxnard Plains, and western Los Angeles
County. Much of the land in this area was eventually purchased by Pennsylvania-based railroad executive and businessman Thomas
A. Scott. Thomas R. Bard moved west to manage Scott's holdings in California and would later come to own much land in Ventura
County. Bard oversaw Scott's business affairs in the West, which included selling and leasing portions of these large ranch
properties. This collection consists of documents for the property in the area of Rancho Las Posas and Rancho Simi from the
late 1800s to the early 1900s. Materials include agreements, deeds and titles, leases, reports and surveys, and correspondence.
One plat map has been removed from the collection to be housed in the map file.
Physical Location: Stored at the MVC Research Library. All requests to access special collections can be made in advance by emailing the Research
Library reference desk.
Language of Material:
English
.
Conditions Governing Access
COLLECTION STORED ON-SITE: Open for research. Advance requests can be made to Research Library staff via email.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Property rights to the physical object belong to the Museum of Ventura County. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained
by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue
the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where the museum does not hold the copyright.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Rancho Las Posas and Simi records, (Collection MVC017), Museum of Ventura County, Research Library,
Ventura, California."
Provenance/Source of acquisition
Gift of the Bard family.
Processing Information
Processed by Library Staff, 2011. Additional processing by Isabel Kline and Krystell Jimenez, 2022.
Biographical / Historical
Rancho Las Posas was a Mexican land grant in what is now Camarillo, Moorpark, portions of Simi Valley, and portions of the
Oxnard Plain in Ventura County, California. It was awarded by Governor José Figueroa to José Antonio Carrillo in 1834. Rancho
Simi (also known as Rancho San José de Nuestra Señora de Altagracia y Simí) was another Spanish land grant that covered much
of Simi Valley and land in what is now western Los Angeles County. The land grant was held by the Pico family. Much of this
land would eventually be purchased by the de la Guerra y Noriega family of Santa Barbara.
Rancho Simi, as well as several other properties in the region, were purchased by Pennsylvania-based land speculator, railroad
executive, and businessman Thomas A. Scott. Thomas R. Bard moved west to manage Scott's holdings in California and would later
come to own much land in Ventura County. In the 1880s Bard would form the Simi Land and Water Company to sell and lease portions
of the large ranch. The Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company was not strictly a Bard-owned enterprise. However, he was
greatly involved in much of the development of the area covered in this collection. The Las Posas and Simi Valley area continued
to be dominated by agriculture and ranching, including sheep, cattle, wheat, and barley. In the years leading up to the 1960s
Simi Valley began to diversify its agriculture to include citrus, walnuts, and apricots until the advent of suburban development
in the 1960s.
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of documents for the property in the area of Rancho Las Posas and Rancho Simi from the late 1800s
to the early 1900s. Materials include agreements, deeds and titles, leases, reports and surveys, and correspondence. One plat
map has been removed from the collection to be housed in the map file.
Arrangement
This collection has no series and has been described at the folder level.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Simi Valley (Calif.)
Land titles
Rancho Las Posas
Rancho Simi
Simi Land and Water Company -- Records and correspondence
Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company -- Records and correspondence
Box 1, Folder 1
Simi: Letters of Attorney
Box 1, Folder 3
Simi: Maps
Scope and Contents
Plat cataloged in Map File M-451 and not in this folder. This includes a plat of the Rancho Simi finally confirmed to Jose
de la Guerra Y. Noriega and dated January 1861.
Box 1, Folder 4
Simi: Descriptions
Scope and Contents
This folder contains descriptions of various tracts in Rancho Simi and correspondence related to the Simi Land and Water Company.
Box 1, Folder 6
Simi: Agreements (miscellaneous)
Box 1, Folder 7
Simi: Walnut Orchard No. 1
Box 1, Folder 7
Reference Map Index (Classified by Type of Map)
Box 1, Folder 13
Las Posas: Description and valuation
Box 1, Folder 15
Las Posas: Rights of Way - Highways
Box 1, Folder 17
Las Posas: Rice and Bell Tract mortgages
Box 1, Folder 18
Las Posas: Rice and Bell Tract agreements and contracts
Box 1, Folder 19
Las Posas: Rice and Bell Tract description and maps
Box 1, Folder 20
Las Posas: Rice and Bell Tract highways and R/W
Box 1, Folder 21
Las Posas: Rice and Bell Tract deeds
Box 1, Folder 22
Las Posas: Rice and Bell Tract deeds
Box 1, Folder 23
Las Posas: Rice and Bell Tract deeds
Box 1, Folder 24
Las Posas: Rice and Bell Tract deeds
Box 1, Folder 26
Las Posas: Surveys, tablings and field notes
Box 1, Folder 28
Las Posas: Oil Leases Proposed letters
1913-1917
Box 1, Folder 30
Las Posas Ranchos: Evaluation of buildings
1916
Box 1, Folder 31
Las Posas: Rights of Way - elimination of reservation
Box 1, Folder 32
Las Posas and Simi: Claims - de la Guerra
Box 1, Folder 33
Las Posas and Simi Tracts: Letters (titles, boundaries)
1881-1915
Box 2, Folder 1
Las Posas and Simi Tracts: Letters (boundaries)
1911-1917
Box 2, Folder 2
Las Posas and Simi Tracts: Letters (boundaries)
1908-1910
Box 2, Folder 3
Las Posas Rice and Bell Tracts: Letters (Rice-John)
Box 2, Folder 4
Las Posas Rice and Bell: Reports
Box 2, Folder 5
Las Posas Rice and Bell Tracts: Letters
1912-1918
Box 2, Folder 6
Las Posas Rice and Bell Tracts: Letters (Rice-Peter)
1874-1889
Box 2, Folder 7
Las Posas Rice and Bell Tracts: Letters (Rice, Courtis M.)
1891-1894
Box 2, Folder 8
Las Posas Rice and Bell Tracts: Letters
1873-1908
Box 2, Folder 9
Las Posas and Simi: Letters
1873-1899
Box 2, Folder 10
Las Posas and Simi: Letters (care and management)
1900-1910
Box 2, Folder 11
Las Posas and Simi: Letters (care and management)
1911
Box 2, Folder 12
Las Posas and Simi: Letters (care and management)
1874-1909
Box 2, Folder 13
Las Posas Water Company: Farrand, George H., water rights (B. I. Co., and L.P.W. Co.)
Box 2, Folder 15
Las Posas and Simi: Reports, J.B. McKee
Box 2, Folder 16
Las Posas: Leases, American Beet Sugar Company
Box 2
John T. Stow notes of Rancho Las Posas: Field notes
General note
(Now recorded in Book 2, Miscellaneous at Page 246; Boundaries dated 1888)
Box 2, Folder 20
Santa Clara Water Conservation District
Box 2, Folder 21
Title Insurance and Trust Company (Ventura)
Box 2, Folder 22
Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company: Financial records and secretary notes
1880 November – 1893 November
Scope and Contents
Folder contains letter of resignation from the director of the Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Co., annual and semi-annual
stockholders meeting notes, secretary notes and letters to the secretary (mainly dealing with finances), notice of meetings,
deeds, produce and hardware receipts from the dealers Wolff and Levy, checks from Santa Clara Water, insurance memos, receipts
from the dealers A.J. Salisbury and Co., receipt with purchases from Ventura County Lumber Company, and Santa Clara Water
tax records.
Box 2, Folder 23
Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company: Legal documents
1904 January - 1913 July
Scope and Contents
This folder contains amendments to by-laws of the Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company, by-laws of the company, court
case documents (for court cases against the company), deeds to the company, bonded indebtedness, and trial balances.
Box 2, Folder 24
Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company: Account statements
1883 April - 1893 November
Scope and Contents
This folder contains tax documents, checks to and from Santa Clara Water and Irrigating, tax receipts, and financial statements.
Box 2, Folder 25
Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company: Documents of the Board of Directors
1871 January - 1915 January
Scope and Contents
This folder contains proof of mailing notices for stockholder meetings, bank statements, Board of Directors meeting notes,
letters addressed to the Board of Directors, documents reporting on the examination of the "Farmer's Ditch", affidavits of
publication for the stockholders meeting, rules and regulations of the company, treasurer documents, and certificates of increase
for the capital stock of the Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company.
Box 2, Folder 26
Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company: Miscellaneous items
1886 March - 1893 November
Scope and Contents
This folder contains account books detailing grocery expenses, directors' resignation for the Santa Clara Water and Irrigating
Company, and loose notes.
Box 2, Folder 27
Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company: Stock voting records and ballots
1884 December - 1917 March
Scope and Contents
This folder contains voting ballots, voting registration documents, and stock voting records.
Box 2, Folder 28
Santa Clara Water and Irrigating Company: Receipts
1884 August - 1908 June
Scope and Contents
This folder contains a checkbook and receipts.
